§2740.70.3. Evangeline Economic Development Authority

            A.(1) The Evangeline Economic Development Authority, referred to in this Section as the "district", is hereby created in the parish of Evangeline. The boundaries of the district shall encompass all of the territory in the parish of Evangeline. The district shall be a political subdivision of the state created for the purpose of performing the functions of an economic and industrial development agency. The functions may include, without limitation:

            (a) Public relations, advertising, marketing, and providing and disseminating information.

            (b) Government relations, ombudsman, and government liaison.

            (c) Financial and financing assistance.

            (d) Tax abatement.

            (e) Planning and coordination for economic development and resource utilization, including such functions as industrial and economic research and industrial programming and solicitation.

            (f) Industrial training, technical assistance, and technology transfer.

            (g) The use of public and other legal powers to facilitate development.

            (h) Promoting transfer mechanisms to take ideas from their point of origin or development to commercially successful utilization by local enterprises.

            (i) Fostering entrepreneurial activity in the parish and region.

            (j) Promoting the development of new products, processes, or services or new uses for existing products, processes, or services manufactured or marketed in the parish or region.

            (k) Supporting market research aimed at identifying new markets for local or regional products and processes, including international markets; determining the characteristics, needs, and preferences of those markets; and developing new marketing techniques to exploit those markets.

            (l) Fostering and supporting economic and industrial development and education in cooperation with private business enterprises, financial institutions, educational institutions, nonprofit institutions and organizations, state government and political subdivisions of the state, the federal government, and other organizations or persons concerned with research, development, education, commercial application, and economic or industrial development in ways which increase the economic base of the parish and region.

            (2) For the purposes enumerated in Paragraph (1) of this Subsection, the district may engage in whatever activities and projects it deems most appropriate to encourage and assist economic growth and development within its territorial limits in accordance with and pursuant to provisions of this Section.

            (3) No rule, regulation, or order shall be adopted by the district which is in conflict with any law, rule, regulation, or order enacted or adopted by the United States of America, the state of Louisiana, or the parish of Evangeline. If the district adopts any conflicting rule, regulation, or order, it shall be void, except that no action by the state of Louisiana, the parish of Evangeline, or any other political subdivision shall abrogate any contract or agreement duly executed by the district.

            B.(1) In order to provide for the orderly planning, development, acquisition, construction, and effectuation of the services, improvements, and facilities to be furnished by the district and to provide for the representation in the affairs of the district of those persons and interests immediately concerned with and affected by the purposes and development of the district, the district shall be managed by a board of commissioners, referred to in this Section as the "board". The board shall be comprised of eleven members, all of whom shall be citizens of the United States and residents of the district. The members of the board shall be appointed as follows:

            (a) The mayors of the municipalities located within the boundaries of the parish of Evangeline shall jointly appoint five members. One of the five members shall be appointed from a list of three nominations submitted to the mayors by the Evangeline Parish Farm Bureau.

            (b) The governing authority of the parish of Evangeline shall appoint two members.

            (c) The Evangeline Parish School Board shall appoint one member.

            (d) The governing board of the Evangeline Parish Chamber of Commerce shall appoint one member.

            (e) The governing boards of the two hospital providers located in the parish of Evangeline shall jointly appoint one member.

            (f) South Louisiana Community College shall appoint one member.

            (2) The members of the board shall include representatives from the business community, health care, legal and professional services, small business owners, financial institutions, manufacturing or service companies, local and regional educational systems or institutions, and parish and municipal government organizations. The board shall be representative of the parish's population by age, race, and gender to ensure diversity.

            (3) Members shall serve four-year terms after serving initial terms as provided in this Paragraph. Three members shall serve an initial term of two years, four shall serve three years, and four shall serve four years as determined by lot at the first meeting of the board. No member of the board may be appointed for more than two consecutive terms.

            (4) Vacancies occurring prior to the expiration of a term shall be filled in the manner of the original appointment for the remainder of the unexpired term.

            (5) Any member may be removed for cause by a majority vote of the remaining board membership. The board may establish criteria for removal of members for cause in its bylaws.

            (6) Members of the board shall serve without compensation but may receive reimbursement for approved and receipted expenses directly related to the governance of the district.

            (7) Elected officials are not eligible to serve on the board.

            (8) The board shall elect from its members a chairman, a vice chairman, a secretary, a treasurer, and other officers as it may deem necessary. The offices of secretary and treasurer may be held by one person. The duties of the officers shall be fixed by the bylaws adopted by the board.

            (9) The minute books and archives of the district shall be maintained by the secretary of the board. The monies, funds, and accounts of the district shall be in the official custody of the board.

            (10) The board shall hold regular meetings as shall be provided in the bylaws and may hold special meetings at the times and places within the district as may be prescribed in the bylaws.

            (11) A majority of the members of the board shall constitute a quorum for the transaction of business. The board shall keep minutes of all meetings and shall make them available through the secretary of the board.

            (12) The board shall prescribe rules to govern its meetings and shall maintain suitable offices in the parish of Evangeline.

            (13) In order to facilitate the performance of its duties required in this Section and to further promote the economic development of the parish and region, the board may establish an advisory board. The advisory board may be composed of persons or groups in the parish or region which the board believes will be able to contribute and assist in the task of economic and industrial development. The composition of the advisory board and the terms of its members shall be at the discretion of the board.

            C. The district, through the board, shall have and exercise all powers of a political subdivision necessary or convenient for the carrying out of its objects and purposes, including but not limited to the following:

            (1) To sue and to be sued.

            (2) To adopt, use, and alter at will a corporate seal.

            (3) To adopt bylaws and rules and regulations.

            (4) To receive by gift, grant, or donation any sum of money, property, aid, or assistance from the United States, the state of Louisiana, or any political subdivision thereof, or any person, firm, or corporation.

            (5) To enter into contracts, agreements, or cooperative endeavors with the state and its political subdivisions or political corporations and with any public or private association, corporation, business entity, or individual.

            (6) To appoint officers, agents, and employees; prescribe their duties; and fix their compensation.

            (7) To acquire by purchase, gift, grant, donation, lease, or otherwise property as may be necessary or desirable for carrying out the objectives and purposes of the board.

            (8) To perform any other necessary and ancillary acts to effectuate its functions, to perform its duties, or to give effect to its powers in accordance with this Section.

            D.(1) The board shall prepare or cause to be prepared a plan or plans, referred to in this Section as the "plan", specifying the public improvements, facilities, and services proposed to be furnished, constructed, or acquired for the district and shall conduct public hearings, publish notice with respect thereto, and disseminate information as it, in the exercise of its sound discretion, may deem to be appropriate or advisable and in the public interest.

            (2) Any plan may specify and encompass any public services, capital improvements, and facilities which the parish of Evangeline is authorized to undertake, furnish, or provide under the constitution and laws of the state of Louisiana, and the specified public services, improvements, and facilities shall be special and in addition to all services, improvements, and facilities which the parish of Evangeline is then furnishing or providing or may then or in the future be obligated to furnish or provide within the district.

            (3) Any plan shall include an estimate of the annual and total cost of acquiring, constructing, or providing the services, improvements, or facilities set forth therein.

            (4) The board shall submit the plan to the governing authority of the parish of Evangeline. The parish governing authority shall review and consider the plan, but the board need not receive approval of the parish governing authority prior to implementing the plan.

            E.(1) All services to be furnished within the district pursuant to any plan finally and conclusively adopted may be furnished, supplied, and administered by the parish of Evangeline through its regularly constituted departments, agencies, boards, commissions, and instrumentalities. All capital improvements and facilities to be acquired, constructed, or provided within the district may likewise be so acquired, constructed, or provided by the parish of Evangeline through its regularly constituted departments, agencies, boards, commissions, and instrumentalities, it being the intention of this Paragraph to avoid the duplication of administrative and management efforts and expense in the implementation of any plan adopted for the benefit of the district.

            (2) In order to provide services or provide, construct, or acquire capital improvements or facilities, the board may enter into intergovernmental local service contracts with the parish of Evangeline.

            F.(1) In addition to the authority provided to the district by this Section, the district may levy and collect a sales and use tax within the boundaries of the district not to exceed one percent.

            (2) The tax shall be imposed by resolution of the board and shall be levied upon the sale at retail, the use, the lease or rental, the consumption, the distribution, and the storage for use or consumption of tangible personal property, and upon the sales of services within the boundaries of the district, all as defined in R.S. 47:301 et seq. However, the resolution imposing the tax shall be adopted only after the proposition authorizing the levy of the tax is approved by a majority of the qualified electors of the district voting on the proposition at an election held for that purpose and conducted in accordance with the Louisiana Election Code and held on a date that corresponds with an election date provided by R.S. 18:402(A)(1) or (B)(1). The purpose and rate of the tax shall be as provided in the resolution.

            (3) Except where inapplicable, the procedure established by R.S. 47:301 et seq. shall be followed in the imposition, collection, and enforcement of the tax, and procedural details necessary to supplement those Sections and to make them applicable to the tax authorized in this Subsection shall be fixed in the resolution imposing the tax.

            (4) The tax shall be imposed and collected uniformly throughout the jurisdiction of the district.

            (5) The tax levied pursuant to this Subsection shall be in addition to all other taxes other political subdivisions within the jurisdiction of the district are authorized to levy and collect.

            (6) Any monies received by the district shall be used exclusively for the benefit of the district.

            G.(1)(a) In addition to any authority provided to the district by this Section, the district shall have the authority provided to an economic development district by Part II of Chapter 27 of this Title to implement tax increment financing and may issue revenue bonds payable from an irrevocable pledge and dedication of up to the full amount of tax increments available to an economic development district as provided in this Section and in such Part to be derived from any project or projects of the district as provided for in this Section, or parts of the projects, in an amount to be determined as provided for in this Section, in order to finance or refinance any project or projects, or parts thereof, which are consistent with the purposes of the district.

            (b) Notwithstanding any provision of law to the contrary, any portion of the tax of any local governmental subdivision or other tax recipient body may only be used as a tax increment for tax increment finance purposes with the consent of the local governmental subdivision or other tax recipient body expressed by ordinance or resolution and upon approval of a majority of the qualified electors voting at an election held for that purpose and conducted in accordance with the Louisiana Election Code and held on a date that corresponds with an election date provided by R.S. 18:402(A)(1) or (B)(1).

            (2) For purposes of the tax increment financing authority derived from Part II of Chapter 27 of this Title which is conferred upon the district by this Section, and only for purposes of this Section, "local governmental subdivision" as defined in such Part shall include the parish of Evangeline and all political subdivisions within the parish.

            (3) For purposes of this Section, a tax increment shall consist of that portion of any tax levied within the district by a local governmental subdivision or other tax recipient body determined and pledged in the manner provided for in Part II of Chapter 27 of this Title. However, if the proceeds of the tax have been expressly dedicated to another purpose set forth in a proposition approved by the electorate of the local governmental subdivision or other tax recipient body, then the tax proceeds may not be used as a tax increment until a proposition which authorizes the use is submitted to and approved by the electorate.

            H. The district shall dissolve and cease to exist one year after the date that all bonds, notes, and other evidences of indebtedness of the district, including refunding bonds, are paid in full as to both principal and interest; however, in no event shall the district have an existence of less than three years from August 1, 2023.

            Acts 2023, No. 282, §1.